In an attempt to deflect from releasing his Tax returns to the American people, President Donald Trump has claimed he has been under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the last 12 years. Many have questioned the validity of the president's claim, which was on display during the latest episode of "The View."

"The View" on Trump

Over the last two years, pressure has continued to mount on Donald Trump to finally release is tax returns. Once Trump made his candidacy for president offical, speculation grew on a daily basis about what the former host of 'The Apprentice" was hiding in his financial history that he insisted to keep the information private.

As the months moved on, allegations of Trump's ties to Russia heated up, raising questions about a financial tie back to the Kremlin. While the billionaire real estate mogul has been able to shield his records from the public, past and present associates have been caught with a link back to Russia, with some including financial ties like former campaign manager Paul Manafort. After Trump defeated former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, he became the first candidate elected president without having to release his returns in nearly 40 years. Since his inauguration, Trump has danced around the issue of making his tax returns public, citing not only a current IRS audit, but by claiming he's been under an audit for over a decade.

Over the weekend, a nation-wide "Tax March" took place, calling on the president to release his returns. This issue was discussed during the April 18 edition of "The View" on ABC.

"Days after nation-wide protests demanding 'you know who' finally release those damn tax returns, the White House and Republicans are still sticking to their story," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, before showing various clips of Republicans making excuses for why Donald Trump is still under an alleged decade-long audit.

After co-host Joy Behar ripped into Trump for his lack of transparency, fellow co-host and lawyer Sunny Hostin explained why the rhetoric from the administration just doesn't make sense.

Tax burden

"If you are (under audit), the IRS sends you a letter indicating that you’re under audit and he can release at least that," Sunny Hostin explained.

"The IRS statute of limitation is three years, but it extends to six years if you leave out 25 percent of your gross income," she continued, before noting, "If you substantially omit some information, it extends to six years." Not stopping there, Hostin concluded by saying, "If he's been under audit for 12 or 20 years, that doesn't make sense!" Despite the information discussed on 'The View,' neither the president nor the White House appear willing to back off their claims of an audit and it's highly unlikely that the tax returns will be made public anytime soon.
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